“Great Aunty, who are we waiting for?” Ana asked after placing her cup of black tea on the table.

She would’ve loved to share it with Mary, but her retainer slash best friend forever couldn’t have joined her even if Ana wanted to. The Matriarch herself had reserved the room for this meeting for whatever reason, and she was adamant to keep it a secret.

They might have shared the same hair color, but Ana had never seen herself in the woman. She could never guess what was going on inside Bella’s head. The woman was exceedingly more incomprehensible than her late mother, the true heir if she was still alive.

The war with the undead had taken a huge toll on everyone. Not even the royal blood was spared from the last encounter with them. A lot of lessons had been learned from the decade-old conflict and how to treat commoner mages were one major part of them.

Of course, there were still some who tried to cling to the old ways, even if it didn’t make any sense. Bella wasn’t one of them at least.

“I’m waiting for someone, not ‘we’,” the lady emphasized. “You can go do whatever there is to do in this... sham of an academy.”

“I’m just wondering what made you reserve a room, you have never done this before,” Ana explained. “And why do you call the academy a sham?”

“Because the things you learn here are nothing compared to the real world, honey,” Bella scoffed. “You better off spending your time training your [Mana Meld] or something.”

“Not everyone is a natural like you, many have to be told what you might find trivial. Besides, it is here where connections or friends are made outside the political circles. For many, the teachings are only secondary.”

“Then go and make friends, I don’t need you here,” the woman waved her away. “Don’t worry, I won’t kidnap anyone, I’m not that desperate yet.”

“Bella-”

Knocking at the door cut her off. The door opened to Sebastian, the Matriarch’s loyal retainer and former adventuring teammate. He had been there every second the woman was out in the world until she was called to return.

Behind him was the last person she expected to see. Adrin, the [Crystal] affinity boy. Unlike any other young man, he hadn't made any attempt to even talk to anyone. Not even the boys. He was very unsociable other than to the two who came with him. It was hard to approach him out of the blue while everyone was watching.

As she expected, he had only glanced at her before he presented himself to the Matriarch with a slight bow. Even that seemed forced rather than honest. Commoner mage had been treated much better than one hundred years ago, but maybe he didn’t know that fact.

However, there was something odd. She didn’t recall him to be this pleasant to the eye. The change was very subtle until she was barely able to notice. It felt like someone had breathed a new [Life] to his overall appearance.

Had his green-haired companion done something? Was that why the girl had to be rushed to the academy this morning? Did he know about it, or he simply didn’t care?

“Are you sure you want her to be here?” the man asked as if the Matriarch was a nobody.

There was no respect in his voice. Ana didn’t like it, but she started to think that William Duray and his family were right. Commoners like Adrin should know who he was talking to and give the respect she deserved. He was given full financial support, he could at least respect that.

The Matriarch also had noticed his change, and worst of all, the woman seemed to be delighted with the disrespectful behavior rather than angry. Ana could see the glint in Bella’s eyes.

But she had never seen anyone act like this to the feared woman. Even the King of the kingdom didn’t dare to take her lightly.

“You seemed to be full of yourself,” Bella chuckled and breathed in relief. “I’ve tried to get rid of her but she is a stubborn one, just like her mother.”

“I really don’t want anyone else to learn about this, ma’am,” he pleaded about something.

“I’m the next Matriarch, the true heir, I have the right to know,” Ana stood her ground.

“There you have it,” Bella chuckled, “but you talked like you already have the answer, is that why you’ve gone to the dungeon yesterday? To test it?”

“Yes, I’ve succeeded,” Adrin said simply.

Bella stood on her feet hearing that. It looked like she wanted to rush over to the young man and shook it out of him. Even the stoic Sebastian lost his composure for a moment.

Ana had never seen her great aunty acting this way. The woman had scoffed when Duke Norteen offered her a dungeon town and the vast lands around it for her hand in marriage. Nothing had moved her like this before and it made her even more curious.

“You succeed in what exactly?” Ana asked the young man while Bella was walking back and forth, biting her nail like she was losing her mind.

“Does she know the condition for this?”

“No, and I can’t order her to leave,” Bella answered.

“What condition?”

“Young master Adrin does want anyone to know it’s he who has discovered the secret,” Sebastian chimed in. “He wants to stay anonymous.”

“You know what, we are wasting time, just make an Oath that whoever reveals me as the one who's found the solution will have terrible nightmares.”

“Yes, I agree with that,” Sebastian quickly agreed before he pulled out the Oath paper.

The old butler skillfully wrote the conditions and handed the paper over to the young man to check. The Matriarch breathed in relief when the young man nodded, and she quickly dropped her blood onto the paper. Ana followed suit because it was the only way he was going to reveal whatever it was he had found.

Adrin groaned and looked at her in disdain. He looked at her, the future Matriarch as if she was the troublemaker.

“Fine, whatever,” he waved his hand and instantly molded a very familiar glyph. “This is the [Candle] version,” he triggered the spell as he spoke.

A blue flame jet out from the glyph. A sharp steady blue instead of the bright dancing yellow had come out of the glyph.

Ana stared at the flame for some time. She pinched her thigh and blinked a few times.

“Is this real?” she squeaked. The man didn’t even have a tiny bit of [Fire] affinity and yet.

“These are the [Torch] and [Fireball] versions,” the young man waved his hand and two more glyphs appeared in the air for all to see. “Anyone, I mean, anyone can use this to cast blue flame versions of the spells, the only difference is the mana cost. So take what necessary steps you think are appropriate.”

Bella touched the glyphs first before Ana followed suit. The spell appeared into her status and it was displayed right away.

Blue flamed [Torch] and [Fireball] glyphs detected

Record spell glyphs?

Even the System had confirmed it. Ana couldn't believe it, but she was still rational enough to immediately said yes inside her head.

Bella, on the other hand, was memsmerized with the blue [Fireball] in her hand. The lady was on the edge of crying from happiness.

“You made these spell glyphs? But how!?” Ana demanded.

“I got the [Spell Scribe] skill?” The young man shrugged. “Just please stick to the deal, I don’t want to be blamed if any of you are haunted by nightmares every night.”

“What else, what kind of fire can you scribe!?” Ana almost shouted at the rude young man.

“One at a time, girl, you don’t want our lady to have a heart attack or something,” he chuckled.

“Young master, please, this isn’t a joke to throw around,” Sebastian chastised Adrin.

And he did it respectfully.

The old butler had never talked in that tone or said ‘please’ in the begging tone to anyone outside the main family. Not even the top family member hadn’t earned such respect, and it was understandable why the young man earned it.

Adrin had single-handedly figured out one of the most ancient unresolved mysteries of the glyphs. Not only that, this major discovery would turn the tide in the conflict against the [Necromancer]s. The Kingdom had a clear chance now, and no one had achieved such a feat, not even the royal court mages.

“Okay, fine,” he sighed, “let’s just say that I'm still working on it,” Adrin said, offhandedly confirming the outrageous idea. “Anyway, my job is done here, can I leave now?”

‘His job?’ Ana lamented. Was it just a job for him? Not service or something. How could he have said that? And she couldn’t say anything about this to anyone?

Now his distaste and misbehave made a lot more sense. He alone held the secret to the colored flames in his hand. He had the right to act this way and he knew this.

“Yes,” Bella said, “just don’t disappear on us again, okay?” the usually proud lady cajoled as if she was talking to her lover.

“I’m glad to be of service, ma’am,” he bowed and took his leave.

Adrin wasn’t even serious about all of this. He was probably oblivious to what he had just achieved, or he simply didn’t care as much. The reason was obvious.

The blue flame meant nothing to him.

Ana hurried after him as he slipped out of the door. Adrin was walking away before he stopped and scratched his head. She breathed in relief when he didn’t disappear on her.

Based on the surveillance report yesterday, the young man had disappeared from his place like a ghost. No one, not even the best [MageHunter] had noticed it. Christine had been pulling her hair trying to figure out how the man had escaped her elite team’s watch.

Luckily the black tag was reported to be seen at the second dungeon. How he had skipped town so fast was anyone’s guess at the moment. She had scoffed at the report when she read it, but now she didn’t think the ‘elites’ were sleeping on the job at all.

“Today’s class is this way,” Ana said to him as she got close.

“After you, my lady future Matriarch,” he said, almost mockingly.

“Why don’t we go together?”

“Please, anything but that,” Adrin chuckled. “I don’t need any more attention, I already can’t even enter a dungeon without the whole family crying about it. So pretty please, after you.”

Ana was out of words after hearing his reply. A man denying her invitation to escort her? The future Matriarch? Men would line up if they had heard the same offer!

Was she not pretty enough for him?

‘No, it can’t be,’ she mused. The girl, Emilia, was not even a match for her.

From when she was a little lady people had been awed by her beauty. Her red flaming hair and big emerald eyes. Even her body shape had left other girls seething in jealousy. It was easy when you can burn your fat away where it wasn’t needed.

Only a few were even comparable to her when she was old enough to judge herself worth. She might not be the prettiest in the kingdom but she was among them at the very least.

They had stood there looking at each other for quite some time. He wasn’t joking about it or playing hard to get. Adrin really didn’t want to be seen together with her.

Something snapped in her, and Ana did something she had never done in her life. She grabbed his arm without the man offering first, and her cheeks and ears flared because of it.

Adrin groaned. He had groaned to her pretty face.

She couldn’t believe the audacity of this man. Couldn’t he see the logic here?

“Let’s go, you don’t want to be late for Miss Florence’s class,” she quipped. “She teaches magic battles and is known for her short temper. This way,” Ana pointed.

It took him a few long seconds before Adrin finally decided to follow her instruction. Ana held his arm firm even when her face was steaming hot from embarrassment.

They continued to make their way up the spellcasting arena without saying a word. The man didn’t smile or complain about it along the way. He just marched forward, ignoring those who had stopped to pay respect to her.

Adrin only wanted this to be over with.

“I guess we are here,” the young man said as they arrived at the arena hall.

Ana clutched harder and Adrin groaned again. Not in pain because the young man's muscles were tight and packed under his uniform. Unlike other mages, he was built like a [Swordsman].

He didn’t even show a fake smile as they entered the building together. Adrin only silently sighed in defeat as they walked past the flabbergasted instructor. Ana only let go when they got to the prepared seats as she didn’t want to appear desperate all of a sudden.

Ana didn’t really care if people wanted to gossip about it. It would work in her favor. She only hoped that Justin wouldn’t act like a spoiled brat about this. She was lucky that her fiance was two years older than her.

But Ana had to admit, she had completely forgotten about the other man for a moment.